The index is a measure of an organization's ethics, leadership, internal culture, brand perception and public messaging via social media, filtered through an empathetic lens. Metrics also include CEO approval ratings from staff, ratio of women on boards, accounting infractions and scandals and carbon footprint.

The results indicate that the top 10 companies on the 2015 index increased in value more than twice as much as the bottom 10, generating 50% more earnings. Furthermore, Parmar reports a correlation as high as 80% between departments with higher empathy and those with high performers. On the other hand, companies that faced ethical failures performed more poorly on the index.

Many tech startups and their corporate venturing partners or incubators focus on hitting it big within the hot consumer markets – U.S., Europe and China – aiming to be the next Unicorn or the next big target